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Thursday, August 27, 2009

View: So much food, so much waste

Thursday August 27, 2009

ALONG THE WATCHTOWERBy M. VEERA PANDIYAN

There is no real shortage of food in terms of global production but too much of it goes down the drain due to greed and disregard for others.

AS the month of Ramadan enters its first week, I'm thankful for the number of invitations to attend buka puasa dinners with my Muslim colleagues.

The hosts of many of these breaking-of-fast functions are companies run by non-Muslims, reflecting the real Malaysian sense of sharing that transcends religion and race.

The lavish array of mouth-watering food at Ramadan bazaars and hotel buffet spreads are indeed astounding.

But many Muslims, like my good friend Zulkefli Abdul Talib, feel that such abundance is ironic during the holy month when abating one's appetite should be the right focus.

Ramadan, after all, is not merely about abstaining from food and drink from sunrise till sunset.

It's more about limiting indulgences and thinking about the unfortunate people who have to struggle for their daily meals.

As he put it, the sanctity of the month is being clouded by the propensity for ostentation and overspending.

"Even when one goes to the nearby bazaar to buy food to buka puasa, the tendency is to buy a lot more than can be eaten. We usually end up with too much, when what is needed to break fast are dates, a drink, some kuih and a square meal," he said.

But overeating during Ramadan is not something that is peculiar to Malaysians. The Gulf Times, Qatar's top English newspaper, said in a recent editorial that the rise of food wastage during a month meant for dietary restraints rather than gluttony is a problem faced by all communities. It said the desire to be one-up over others leads to huge amounts food prepared and eaten in small gatherings.

Against such a scenario, perhaps it is pertinent to take note that there are still Malaysians who are on the verge of starvation, and also to reflect on the shocking number of people who die from hunger elsewhere in the world.

Last week, The Star reported that people in Sarawak's Kapit Division are facing acute food shortage, an obvious consequence of wanton destruction of forests through logging and creation of new oil palm plantations.

The remote Lusong Laku Penan settlement and surrounding hamlets, which can only be reached via timber tracks after more than 10 hours of driving, face shortages of basic foods and clean drinking water. There are some 3,000 people in the area, with young children being the hardest hit by hunger and malnutrition.

Concerned Malaysians, including those touched by lawyer Haris Ibrahim's blog posting titled: "How many anak Bangsa Malaysia must die before you are moved?" have donated generously, but much of the stockpiled provisions have yet to be sent through because of logistical problems.

A trip by a 10-wheeler lorry from Bintulu costs RM5,000, a three-tonne lorry RM1,500 while delivery by a 4WD-vehicle can cost up to RM700. Other than the satellite phones in clinics and schools, there are no other means of quick communications.

Besides the Penans and other indigenous groups from Sarawak and Sabah, pockets of poverty are still evident among Malays in the east coast.

But our problems are trifling compared with the appalling global statistics on hunger. The stark fact is that starvation kills one person every three seconds. To see the other shocking figures moving in real time, go to: http://www.stopthehunger.com/

Yes, hunger and malnutrition kill between nine million and 10 million people each year, about half of whom are children, while an estimated five billion suffer from protein deficiency and lack of essential vitamins and minerals.

But in terms of food production, there is no tangible shortage in the world.

On the contrary, too much food grown on land created from the destruction of natural eco-systems and a lot of it is being wasted.

Tristam Stuart, a historian and "freegan" (one who subsists largely on food discarded by others), highlights this paradox well in his thought-provoking book Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal.

He says food is treated as a disposable commodity in the developed world, disconnected from the social and environmental impact of its production.

"By buying more food than we are going to eat, the industrialised world devours land and resources that could otherwise be used to feed the world's poor.

"There are nearly a billion undernourished people in the world — but all of them could be fed with just a fraction of the food which rich countries currently throw away."

In the United States, about 50% all food is wasted and in the UK, it is a third of it, weighing up to 20 million tonnes. He estimates that the Japanese dispose of food worth about RM357.7bil yearly.

How do we ourselves fare? There are no clear monetary estimates but some 20,000 tonnes of solid waste are currently generated in peninsular Malaysia alone and 45% of this is discarded food.

So, just how much food should be enough for each one of us to prevent others from starving?

Five years ago, when the world's population was 6.3 billion and global food production was 4.035 billion tonnes of food (cereal, fruit, vegetable, meat and seafood combined) the Food and Agriculture Organisation reckoned that a mere 1.74kg of food per day was all it that was needed for each person to evenly share all food produced in the world.

That is certainly food for thought.

> Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote by Benjamin Franklin: Mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.

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IAHAIO Geneva Declaration

Preamble

Recent research is demonstrating the various benefits of companion animals to people's well-being, personal growth, and quality of life.

In order to enable their presence and ensure the harmonious companionship of animals in our lives, owners, and governments both have duties and responsibilities.

IAHAIO members have adopted five fundamental resolutions at their General Assembly, held in Geneva on 5 September 1995. IAHAIO urges all international bodies concerned and all national governments to consider and activate the following resolutions.

Resolutions

To acknowledge the universal non-discriminatory right to pet ownership in all places and reasonable circumstances, if the pet if properly cared for and does not contravene the rights of non-pet owners.

To take appropriate steps to ensure that the human environment is planned and designed to take the special needs and characteristics of pets and their owners into account.

To encourage the regulated presence of companion animals in schools and school curricula, and to work to convince teachers and educators of the benefits of this presence through appropriate training programmes.

To ensure regulated companion animals access into hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, and other centres for the care of people of all ages who are in need of such contact.

To officially recognize as valid therapeutic interventions those animals that are specifically trained to help people overcome the limitations of disabilities; to foster the development of programs to produce such animals; and to ensure that education about the range of capabilities of these animals is included in the basic training of the health and social service professions.

IAHAIO Prague Declaration

Preamble

There is much research now available to prove that companion animals can add to the Quality of Life of the humans to whom they may provide practical assistance or therapy.

IAHAIO members believe that those who train animals and deliver the service to others must ensure the Quality of Life of the animals involved. Programmes offering animal-assisted activities or animal-assisted therapy for the benefit of others should be governed by basic standards, regularly monitored, and be staffed by appropriately trained personnel.

IAHAIO members have therefore adopted four fundamental guidelines at their General Assembly held in Prague in September, 1998. IAHAIO urges all persons and organizations involved in animal-assisted activities and/or animal-assisted therapy, and all bodies governing the presence of such programmes in their facilities to consider and abide by the following points.

Organizations adhereing to the above four guidelines will be invited to join IAHAIO as Affiliate Members.

IAHAIO Rio Declaration

The IAHAIO Rio Declaration on Pets in Schools

Given the strong evidence that has accumulated in recent years demonstrating the value, to children and juveniles. of social relationships with companion animals it is important that children be taught proper and safe behaviour towards those animals and the correct care, handling and treatment of the various companion animal species.

Realising that companion animals in school curricula encourage the moral, spiritual and personal development of each child, bring social benefits to the school community and enhance opportunities for learning in many different areas of the school curriculum, IAHAIO members have adopted fundamental guidelines on pets in schools at their General Assembly, held in Rio de Janeiro in September 2001.

IAHAIO urges all school authorities and teachers, as well as all persons and organisations involved in pet programmes for schools, to consider and abide by the following guidelines:

Programmes about companion animals should, at some point, allow personal contact with such animals in the classroom setting. Depending on school regulations and facilities, these animals will : a) be kept, under suitable conditions, on the premises, or b) be brought to school by the teacher, or c) come to visit, in the context of a visiting programme, together with their owners, or d) accompany, as a service dog, a child with special needs.

Any programme involving personal contact between children and companion animals must ensure: a) that the animals involved are

safe (specially selected and/or trained),

healthy (as attested by a veterinarian),

prepared for the school environment (e.g. socialized to children, adjusted to travel in the case of visiting animals),

properly housed (either in the classroom or while at home), and

always undersupervision of a knowledgeable adult (either the teacher or the owner);

b) that safety, health and feelings of each child in the class are respected.

Prior to the acquisition of classroom animals or visitation of the class by programme personnel with companion animals that meet the above criteria, both school authorities and parents must be informed and convinced of the value of such encounters.

Precise learning objectives must be defined and should include: a) enhancement of knowledge and learning motivation in various areas of the school curriculum b) encouragement of respect and of a sense of responsibility for other life forms c) consideration of each child's expressive potential and involvement.

The safety and well-being of the animals involved must be guaranteed at all times.

IAHAIO Tokyo Declaration

IAHAIO Tokyo Declaration

Given the scientific and medical evidence proving the beneficial effects to humanhealth and well being arising from interactions with companion animals,given the biological and psychological evidence for the innate affinity of humansto nature, including other living beings and natural settings,the members of the International Association of Human-Animal InteractionOrganizations unanimously approved the following resolution and guidelines foraction at the IAHAIO General Assembly held on October 5, 2007 in Tokyo,Japan.

It is a universal, natural and basic human right to benefitfrom the presence of animals.

Acknowledgement of this right has consequences requiring action in variousspheres of legislation and regulation. IAHAIO urges all international bodies andnational and local governments:

1. To enact housing regulations which allow the keeping of companionanimals if they can be housed properly and cared for adequately, whilerespecting the interests of people not desiring direct contact with suchanimals;

2. To promote access of specially selected and trained, healthy, and cleananimals to medical care facilities to participate in animal-assisted therapyand/or animal-assisted activities;

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